Tracker-bar.



J. J. KLEIN. TRACKER BAR.

APrLIoATIoN FILED 00124, 19ml.

Pateted June 22,1909..

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UNl'lED STATES PATENT OFFEOE.

JAMES J. KLEIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CONRAD R.

SCH UMACHER,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TRACKE R-B AR.

Specification of Letters Izatent.

Patented June 22, 1909.

v.Application led ctober 24, 1908. Serial No. 459,324.

To all whom it maycoacer'n:

Be it known that I, JAMES J. KLEIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates ot'America, and a resident ol the borough ol' the Bronx, in the city ol'New York, county of N ew York, and State oi' New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Tracker- Bars, ot' which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to' pneuniatieally operated automatic playersl'or pianos or other musical instruments, and has for its ob j eet torender the playing device adjustable, whereby it may be operated fromsheets of roll in usic having diiferently spaced lines of perl'orationsand designed to play different nurnbers of notes. i

in the accompanying sheet of drawings, l'ornis a part oi' thisapplication, the

piano player which embodies my invention.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the tracker-bar, tubes andtube-head on the line l-I ol' Fig. 3, showing the series of sixtylivechannels which are used with music having the more widely spaced linesol' perforations. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the saineparts on the line II-ll oll Fig. 3, showing a series ol' eighty-eightchannels which are used with niusic having more closely spaced liliesolI perforatioiis. Fig. 2J is a cross-section through the same parts onthe lines lll-lll ol Figs, l, 2, and 5. l"ig. 4 is a longitudinalsection on the line IVY-1V ol' Fig. 3, showing the tube-head and slide.Fig. 5 shows the face oll the ti'ackerbar.

Piano players have been heretofore iiianul'actured with a compass ol'either (i5 or 88 notes, and the perl'orated roll music l'or eithercompass olI player has not been suited to the other by reason ol adifferent spacing ot' the openings in the bai' over which the musictracks, as nell as by reason ol' the dilln order to render an automaticplayer adaptable to either kind ol' inns-ir', a tracker-bar A isprovided with two series ol openings ranged in two lines along its lare,the upper series u having (i5 holes i and being more widely siniced,while the:y lower series l) has HH holes, but is so inueh niorc closelyspin-ed that it offlupies a less distance on the bai'. rl`he upperseries is adapted to register willi sixty-live note music and the lowerseries is adapted to register 1 with eighty-eight note music. Rcarwardlyextending from the upper row ol' 65 lace openings, is a series ol' 65channels c converging to a lesser spacing at the rear. On account elconverging they are iiarrower at the rear but are made deeper so thatthe cross-section will not be lessened. Rcarwardly extending l'roni thelower row el' 88 lace openings, and divided oil' l'roni the upper seriesby a central wall, is a series ol- 8S 65 channels d divergiiig to aspacing or pitch at the rear, which is the saine as the spacing ol' theother series, and the rear ends of channels Afor corresponding notes inthe two series are brought opposite. The series ol 88 chan- 70 nels haseleven at the lel't end ol' the tracker'- bar l'or the bass, and twelvelat the right end l'or the treble, for which there are-iio correspondingchannels iii the other series. The channels are closed by covers B B, asuitable packing, as oll cloth with shellac, being interposed.

A tube-head C carries S8 tubes e, cach of. which communicates with themiddle ol a Y short transverse channelfin the tube-head, the spacingbeing the saine as that'of the rear end of both of the series olchannels in the tracker-bar. lhe short channels constitute the openingsof the tube-head. A slide i) lits a longitudinal channel above thetransverse channels in the tube-head, and has two series olperloi'ations g lt with equal spacing thc same as the spacing ol' thetubehead channels and the rear ends ot the tracker-bar channels. Theycorrespond in 9o iiuinber to the tracker-bar channels. They alternate inposition and areso placed that either series may be brought opposite theends oll the corresponding series ol' channels and all the channels ofthe series brought into eominunieation with the corresponding openingsol.' the tube-head, and theslide at the saine time brought to coverthose portions ol' the openings which lie along the line of the otherseiics of openings in the slide. loo 'lhc slide is interposed betweenthe tubehead and the tracker-bar, and the tube-head and ti'iu-.ker-barare drawn toward cach other by screws 'i i, springs being interposedundcr the screw-heads so that the ion pressure may be limited to thatnecessary to -keep the joints air-tight, and not interfere with the freeoperation of the slide. lhe slide luis a short rack /c at either endwhich is engaged by a pinion l on a shaft m, the shaft iio ofair-channels terminating in the face of the tracker-bar in twodifferently spaced series of holes, and terminating at the rear of thetracker-bar in two series oi' openings of the saine spacing, and incombination a tubehead with a series of openings therein, a

f slide interposed between the rear of the tracker-bar and tube-headhaving two series of perforations one of which is adapted to registerwhen in one position with one series ot' channels and the openings ofthe tubehead and the other of which is adapted to register when in theother position with the other series of channels and the openings in thetube-head, and means for shifting the slide-from one position to theother, substantially as described.

2. A tracker-bar provided with two series side of either series oftracker-bar openings' of air-channels'unequal in number terminating inthe face of the tracker-bar in two dii'- ferentlT spaced series ofholes, and tcrininat? ing at the rear of the tracker-bar in two seriesof openings of the saine spacing, and in combination a tube-head with aseries of Iopenings therein equal in number to the greater series oi'air-channels, a slide vinterposed between -the rear oi the trackerbarand tube-head having two series ol perforations one ot which is adaptedto register when in one position with one series oi chan- A nels and theopenings of the tube-head and the other of which'is adapted to registerwhen in the other position with the other series of channels and theopenings in the tube-head, and when connecting the series of channels oflesser number cutting eff the excess openings of the tube-head,substantially as described.

3. A ti'acker-bar provided with two series of air-channels terminatingin the face of the tracker-bar in two diierently spaced series of holes,and terminating at the rear of the tracker-bar in two series of openingsof the same spacing, and in combination a tubehead with a series ofopenings therein, a slide interposed between the rear oi the tracker-barand tube-head having two series of perforations one of which is adaptedto register when in one position with one series of channels and theopenings oi' the tube head and the other of which is adapted to registerwhen in the other position with the other series of channels and theopenings in the tube-head, a pini-on engaging the slide to shift thesame, a pinion-shaft, and a lever at the face of the tracker-barconnected with the pinion-shaft, the connections being such thatmovement oi the lever handle to the eileots the combination oi' thatseries of openings with the openings in the tube-head, substantialljT`as described.

Signed by me at lNew York, NY., this 22d day oiL October, N08.

JAINES J KLEN.

Witnesses i SAMUEL W. BALCH, HUGH H. Sarnen.

